Sick leave

A third (34%) of GPs have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of people needing to be signed off work for seven days or more, new research reveals. According to GPs, employers themselves are at fault with nine out of 10 doctors (94%) blaming companies for failing to take responsibility for their employees’ health and wellbeing.

Ill health and absenteeism currently cost UK businesses £13bn a year and doctors predict that is set to soar unless employers take urgent action to help workers manage their health. HR directors report that the major health problems affecting workers are stress (76%), back problems (63%) and depression (57%) – all issues that can be caused or exacerbated by the working environment.

Norwich Union Healthcare’s Health of the Workplace report, which surveyed employers and GPs across the country, stresses that employee health has a significant impact on the bottom line of an organisation. The effects of absences can be especially damaging when key staff are off sick. Forty-two percent of companies have said they have struggled with key members of staff being off for long periods of time, causing widespread disruption:

• 68% say this has lead to overstretched teams
• 64% say teams lack leadership and direction as a consequence
• 45% believe it caused morale problems and resentment
• 31% say key accounts or clients were put in jeopardy

In spite of the clear business need, Norwich Union Healthcare’s Health of the Workplace Report also uncovers a worrying conflict on the part of UK businesses to the health and wellbeing of their staff. Only 38% of UK companies see employee wellbeing as an HR priority and 40% of companies ignore it completely as they do not have any system in place for health management.

One explanation for the lack of investment in this area is that many (43%) UK companies choose to manage health issues on a case-by-case basis. The report suggests that this is a risky short-term strategy and almost half of the companies (46%) admit they don’t invest enough time or resources in pre-empting sickness. Moreover, 70% of companies do not see employees’ health as their responsibility.